Formal Violence

This chapter begins by detailing how the negativity that was framed conceptually and philosophically in Chapter 1 makes itself felt through the formal, stylistic and aesthetic seams of Persona and Two or Three Things. Following an examination of the role of authorship and ‘auto-critique’ in this process, I address negativity’s role in the very particular and ‘autonomous’ presentations of the moving image offered in these two films and the difficult but very rewarding relationships forged between on-screen and spectatorial bodies. The chapter then brings Part I of this book to a close by asking what kinds of bodies, faces, and subjects these ontologically violent films ultimately leave us with in light of the negative impression.